Our Community News

Our Community's "chaos controller" explains how the Australian Institute of Grants Management (AIGM) and its sister enterprise The Innovation Lab are helping drive grants innovations such as automated shortlisting, AI-driven classification, smart maps and an outcomes engine.

Community directors are better equipped to crack the code when it comes to regulation, data, culture, media, finances, legal challenges, their internal politics, and much more, following ICDA's recent conference in Melbourne.

Community directors face an unprecedented burden of increased regulation, decreased funding and low community trust, according to the former commissioner of the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission, Susan Pascoe.

Thirty recommendations from a wide-ranging review into the operation of the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) have been largely welcomed by the social sector following their release last month.

Dr Lucy Bernholz, a world-recognised thinker on digital and data trends, and a specialist in helping not-for-profits manage digital assets better, says groups must improve the way they handle data, in the interests of keeping our civil society strong.

There are many different paths to community leadership, but probably none so rarely travelled as the one taken by Keenan Mundine who went from a childhood on the Block in Redfern, to speaking on criminal responsibility to an audience at the United Nations.

Christina Ryan, CEO and founder of the Disability Leadership Institute, has been examining what "disability leadership" is and how to use this information to combat the fall in Australia's global business rankings.

Chris Borthwick, our Thinker-in-Residence, takles Tony Abbot's codemnation of the ACNC investigation into Catholic Education Melbourne, and asks the question "When is a charity not a charity?" and the equally important question, "When is a beard not a beard?"

While the national trend in giving is facing a slump, donations through Our Community's donations platform, GiveNow, are at an all time high. The GiveNow team provides some insight into why and how they're fighting against the dip.

Most not-for-profit leaders aim to set - and expect the people in their organisations to practise - high standards of ethical behaviour, but experts in the field of human behaviour and management say humans are irrational and tribal, and getting them to behave in a particular way isn't always easy.

What makes a good community leader? We asked the question of former Australian Human Rights Commission president GillianTriggs, US education pioneer Mary Gentile, political commentator Jamila Rizvi, animal rights advocate Philip Wollen, social researcher Hugh Mackay, and economist Nicholas Gruen, as well as several articulate delegates at our recent Communities in Control conference

A highly effective board should be representative of the community, or stakeholders, it exists to serve. This makes sense, right? You need people who understand the needs and wants of your organisation's stakeholders to effectively govern your organisation. And, gender diversity should be the easiest for your board to tackle.

Our Community's Thinker-in-Residence Chris Borthwick cites Caeser and a recent CEO's meltdown in examining what not to do when trying to be a better leader. Plus, tap here to see more resources we have for NFP boards.

The Australia Council for the Arts - the federal government's arts funding and advisory body - provides specialist training for a nominal fee to selected upcoming and experienced arts leaders in a program that takes just 50 candidates per year. So what's involved?

In this article from the respected Nonprofit Quarterly, these US experts examine a highly effective way to more effective work with the same - or even less funds - while also reducing the stress on your organisation. (Reproduced with permission)

Top not-for-profit treasurer Sinead Glennon says treasurers must pay more attention to policies, risk management, cash management and planning, or they could be risking financial trouble. Plus enter the Treasurers' Awards now and win $5000 for your organisation.

South Sydney Christian charity Georges River Life Care raises money each year for its domestic violence support services, but in 2018 it ramped up its efforts with GiveNow's latest peer-to-peer fundraising tool, CrowdRaisers.

Our Community's Innovation Lab is doing its bit to "grow the pot of gold under the rainbow", crunching the data to help improve the flow of funds to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex groups.

A CYBER attack in which cyber criminals threatened to release the details of 8000 clients of Family Planning NSW - including those seeking help about contraception and abortion - has highlighted the threat to other not-for-profits, as well as the new laws that require them to notify authorities about data breaches. Here's the latest guidelines.

Our Community's latest data science project combines two of our passions: grants and gender equity. We set out to find out whether an applicant's gender would affect the result of their application for funds.

Amid 409 recommendations following the royal commission into instiutional child abuse, we've produced a guide, checklists and sample policies to make child safety easy. Download it now. It's the right thing to do.

If your organisation is made up of good people who always do what's right, then when other organisations tell you they need help, you co-operate with them. Our Community's managing director Denis Moriarty explains in the latest Our Community Matters

Co-working spaces are popping up across Australia, from Cairns to Perth, their popularity exploding alongside freelancing and digital technology. So what exactly makes this kind of workplace different from a serviced office? From the April edition of Our Community Matters

If we want to make a difference, if we want to overcome disadvantage, if we want all Australians to share in the prosperity of this country, then we've got to do some of these things, says Professor David MacKenzie, who joins a group of experts and leaders who have their say about collaboration that works in the April edition of Our Community Matters

Galaxy formation? That's nothing. Try understanding the impact of grants. Dr Paola Oliva-Altamirano, an astrophysicist, astronomer, and specialist in the creation of galaxies over billions of years, has turned her attention to something harder - data science for the social sector.

We've spoken to legal and academic types, change merchants, not-for-profit movers and shakers, scrutinised case studies, and dipped into our library of resources to bring you this dossier all about how collaboration will help you survive tough times, and perform better. (ICDA member publication)

Collaboration between community, not-for-profits, business, government and philanthropy is the only way we'll solve our biggest problems, the chief of a social enterprise dedicated to joint effort says.